Celebrating the great Canadian game. Tracking the NHL, the Canadian teams and a lot more!

Friday, October 14, 2011

The Owners Box

As we wander through our look at the 2011-12 NHL season, we'll stop in at the NHL realty offices, checking in on some of the bargains that may be out there for prospective NHL owners.

Whether a chance to pick up an NHL franchise as a stand alone property, or to share in the load of the current establishment, there seemingly may be a few deals to be made this season.

We'll update this page as events warrant, you can alway check in by checking our line on the right hand sidebar, we'll keep our records tidy in the GM's office.

December 9 -- Toronto Maple Leafs--- The NHL's most valuable franchise is departing from the Ontario Teacher's Pension Fund, destined to be the chattel of two of Canada's largest media and communications giants. December 9th brought the announcement that Bell Canada Enterprises and Rogers Communications were joining forces to purchase the shares of the Teachers' Pension Fund, a 75 per cent share of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, needless to say it filled the nations media content provider portals details of all which can be found here.

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November 21-- Dallas Stars-- Tom Gaglardi once tried to purchase the Vancouver Canucks, a bid that ended in acrimony and a lengthy court battle between himself and the eventual owners of the Canucks, the Aquilini's. Still, despite that less than successful attempt at NHL ownership, Gaglardi came back to the well this time with a bid for the bankrupt and nearly forgotten Dallas Stars. Some of the press clippings from his successful purchase can be found below.

November 18-- Toronto Maple Leafs --- The prospect of Wayne Gretzky returning to the NHL in an ownership capacity with the Toronto Maple Leafs has made for a rather fascinating look at the bid of the Ontario Teachers Plan Fund to finally exit the world of professional sports ownership (details on the bid of an American fund group to buy the Leafs can be found here)

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October 24--Dallas Stars-- The deadline for bids from potential buyers of the Dallas Stars closed on Saturday, with Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi the only person to submit a proposal to purchase the team. Gaglardi started the process back in September, the NHL hopes to have the process of purchase finalized by the end of November (details on the latest development can be found here)

October 14--Carolina Hurriances-- Peter Karmanos is taking on a partner within the ownership group of the Hurricanes, as Michael Kahn signs on as part of the Hurricanes organization. Kahn is the owner and Governor of the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League, the Checkers are the AHL affiliate for the Hurricanes (details on the arrangement). The deal with Kahn is just one of nine Carolina investors that have been offered equity stakes with the Hurricanes.